Gray-footed chipmunk
| Gray-footed chipmunk | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Neotamias |
| Species: | N. canipes |
| Binomial name | |
| Neotamias canipes (V. Bailey, 1902) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Tamias canipes | |
The gray-footed chipmunk (Neotamias canipes) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to New Mexico and in the Sierra Diablo and Guadalupe Mountains in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas in the United States.[1] Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
Favorite haunts of the gray-footed chipmunk are down logs at the edge of clearings. They occur also in dense stands of mixed timber (oaks, pines, firs) and on brushy hillsides, particularly where crevices in rocks offer retreats. When alarmed, they usually seek seclusion in crevices or underground burrows; occasionally they take to the trees.
Their food consists of a variety of items such as acorns, seeds of Douglas fir, currants, gooseberries, mushrooms, green vegetation, and insects.
Little is known of their breeding habits. The young are about half-grown in mid-summer and almost full-grown in September and October, but one female taken in August in the Guadalupe Mountains contained four embryos. One litter a year is normal.
References
- 1 2 Linzey, A. V.; Clausen, M. K. & Hammerson, G. (2008). "Tamias canipes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ↑ David, William B.; Schmidly, David J. "Gray-footed Chipmunk". The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition. Texas Tech University. Retrieved 18 June 2017.